The Dagger

Craig Robinson's firing scuttles plan for game at the White House

FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2014 file photo, Oregon State's head coach Craig Robinson gestures during a game against UCLA in Corvallis, Ore. Oregon State fired Robinson, Monday, May 5, 2014, after six seasons without making the NCAA tournament. (AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens, File)

The unusually late dismissal of Craig Robinson had another side effect besides forcing Oregon State to scramble to fill its coaching vacancy in mid-May.

It also scuttled plans for a game that would have been among the most unusual in college basketball history.

Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis had proposed a matchup between the Spartans and Beavers under a canopy on the White House lawn in fall 2016, the Detroit Free Press reported Saturday. That idea fizzled quickly with Robinson's firing since there was no excuse to play in front of the nation's most iconic building without the presence of President Obama's brother-in-law.

If the notion of a game at the White House sounds unrealistic, consider what other unique games Hollis has already made happen.

Hollis hatched the idea for a basketball game on an aircraft carrier in 2011, spearheaded the plan to hold a Michigan-Michigan State hockey match at Spartan Stadium in 2001 and set up a basketball game at cavernous Ford Field in 2003. He has even broached the idea of a basketball game between Michigan State and USC at Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, Greece, site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

There's still a chance college basketball at the White House could happen but much of it depends on the future of Robinson.

Said Hollis to the Free Press: “If somebody hires (Robinson), maybe it can still be on."